[Rebels1972] truckers
machen2081 at bellsouth.net
machen2081 at bellsouth.net
Thu Jun 15 10:03:49 CDT 2006
Ah Fred,
I read and re-read your article with great interest. I wonder why you
would put so much time and energy into such an article.
You see truck drivers really strike a chord with me and I'll tell you why.
I'm sure there are many great truck drivers on the road with a safe driving
record. I haven't met many. You stated that people feel anger towards truck
drivers because of the manner in which they drive on the open highway. You
are so correct. My article may offend you....
In 1984, I was taking my mother to and from Birmingham for her chemo
treatments three times per week. On one Wednesday afternoon, I was driving
her red car home with her reclined in the riders side. I was on the left
side of highway I-59 and a "wonderful"truck driver flew by and took off the
entire side of her car( my mother's side.) He swerved over into my lane.
He never stopped and kept going at approx 90 miles per hr. I'm sure to
deliver his goods to a store! I had to chase him down and lucky for us a
statetrooper was a few miles away.
I finally got the truck to stop. The driver jumped out(all 4'10" of him and
proceeded to cuss me out and even hit me.I was pregnant at the time)
He was stoned out of his mind. At this point, I was all over him and since
my mother was only slightly injured she had to pull me off of him. He denied
the hit and run---cars were pulled over for witnesses and the trooper had
arrived.
Long story short---This precious trucker was stoned on Demerol, morphine and
being serviced by his boyfriend(also stoned)when he nearly killed us. Red
paint was all over his wheels--he went to jail with many charges!!! This
wasn't the first time for him either.
How do these guys pass drug testing? Is there drug testing?
Like you said.... It isn't whether or not he's at fault that matters. You
may have run into him but the question is.. could he have done something to
prevent it from happening? You figure it out!
My parents live next door to a trucker ....This trucker steals goods, lets
his 14yr drive his 18wheeler on long trips while he sleeps, and is addicted
to crystal meth.
My daughter and I just went to Anniston yesterday and were run off the road
by a 18 wheeler and then the thing kept
chasing us for miles. I called the police but the truck had left by that
time. A report was taken.
As you can see, I have little respect for truckers. My dealings have not
been good. Many are slaves to drugs to keep them going these long, grueling
hours.
My hats are off to the good ones.
Susan
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Fred Atkinson" <fatkinson at mishmash.com>
>>> To: "Rebels 1972" <rebels1972 at mishmash.net>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 8:52 PM
>>> Subject: [Rebels1972] Economic Slavery on the Highways
>>>
>>>
>>>> I'd like to share some ideas about some of the people who make this
>>>> country great. They are often the most unappreciated people in the
>>>> world.
>>>>
>>>> We take them so much for granted despite all that they do. Everyone
>>>> seems to think that the goods on the shelf at your store just appear
>>>> there
>>>> magically. The materials to build your home, school, or workplace were
>>>> not
>>>> always there. The fuel that makes your car run does not just appear at
>>>> the
>>>> pump. And there are many other material goods we rely on to maintain
>>>> our
>>>> standard of living.
>>>>
>>>> There are thousands of good Americans that transport these materials
>>>> to
>>>> us. They aren't heralded and they get no fanfare. Man live a
>>>> lifestyle of
>>>> separation from their families and work an incredible number of hours.
>>>> It
>>>> is their plight I wish to discuss.
>>>>
>>>> When the economy went sour at the end of 2001, I spoke with a
>>>> recruiter
>>>> for a national trucking company, she arranged for me to travel to
>>>> Memphis,
>>>> Tennessee and attend a three week school that would help me get a Class
>>>> A
>>>> commercial driver's license with all the required endorsements and the
>>>> training required for the company to hire me as an over the road truck
>>>> driver. The cost of attending the truck school was over five thousand
>>>> dollars and I was expected to be responsible for the cost myself. I
>>>> was not
>>>> compensated in any way for the time I spent in school.
>>>>
>>>> I went to truck driving school with a lot of people from different
>>>> parts
>>>> of the country and different backgrounds. After we completed our first
>>>> week
>>>> in school, we passed our written exams to get our learner's permits and
>>>> our
>>>> medical certificates, which were required to operate the big eighteen
>>>> wheelers.
>>>>
>>>> The next week was range training. We learned all manner of backing.
>>>> Backing was not like backing a car. It required a whole different
>>>> twist.
>>>> To back a truck to the right one must turn the wheel to the left until
>>>> the
>>>> truck jacks to the right. Then you turn the wheel to the right to
>>>> follow
>>>> the trailer and keep it on the right path. Even backing in a straight
>>>> line
>>>> was difficult. But we learned our required backing skills during the
>>>> second
>>>> week and went on for the road training.
>>>>
>>>> We drove all over western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northern
>>>> Mississippi. To the end of the third week we completed our training
>>>> and
>>>> passed our road tests. When we returned to school the following week,
>>>> we
>>>> were taken to the DMV to get our Class A commercial driver's licenses
>>>> and
>>>> late we were assigned to a driver who would train us while we were
>>>> actually
>>>> transporting goods all over the country. We were paid only fifty
>>>> dollars
>>>> per day while we trained regardless of the miles driven. Since a
>>>> driver
>>>> often drives between four and five hundred miles per shift, that
>>>> amounts to
>>>> as little as ten cents per mile or less.
>>>>
>>>> These three weeks of driver training was done with no compensation
>>>> and a
>>>> legal requirement that you repay the company for the training. Of
>>>> course,
>>>> they pro-rated the cost over two years and made the payments for your
>>>> as
>>>> long as you worked for them. But if you found it necessary to leave,
>>>> you
>>>> were on the hook for the pro-rated part of the money you owe. This
>>>> makes it
>>>> difficult to leave if you are unhappy with the working situation.
>>>>
>>>> After I completed the training with my instructor, I began to learn
>>>> things I never knew. I knew that truck drivers were typically away
>>>> from
>>>> home for months at a time. I never knew that they are not covered by
>>>> the
>>>> wage and hour laws (overtime? What is that?). Truck drivers don't get
>>>> overtime even though they constantly work in excess of sixty hours per
>>>> week.
>>>> They get paid for the miles they drive and (on occasion) for loading or
>>>> unloading a truck, not for the time they work.
>>>>
>>>> Many responsibilities that truck drivers perform are without any
>>>> compensation. The Department of Transportation requires that they
>>>> perform a
>>>> complete and thorough pre-trip safety inspection each day, which takes
>>>> fifteen minutes of their time. They receive no compensation for their
>>>> time
>>>> to perform this. When they weigh and balance a truck to make sure the
>>>> load
>>>> is legal on the highway, they receive no compensation for that, either.
>>>>
>>>> When they hitch or unhitch a trailer, they receive no compensation
>>>> for
>>>> that task. When a shipper or receiver makes them stand around and wait
>>>> for
>>>> their load to be loaded or unloaded from a trailer, the driver receives
>>>> no
>>>> compensation for the time he is there idle while the shipper or
>>>> receiver
>>>> focuses on other things (unless he is paid for loading or unloading,
>>>> which
>>>> isn't often).
>>>>
>>>> And the driver is never guaranteed to get a shipment to move. There
>>>> were a number of times where I sat at a truck stop in a strange city
>>>> with no
>>>> load. Our company compensated us forty dollars per day if they had no
>>>> load
>>>> for us. Imagine that, only forty dollars for a single day of your life
>>>> (and
>>>> not all drivers even get that) away from your family, community, and
>>>> friends. And the per mile rates for new drivers are very low. One I
>>>> was
>>>> asked to pick up a trailer, weigh it to make sure it was legally
>>>> balanced,
>>>> and transport it to the nearest company terminal for
>>>> reassignment to another driver. For my several hours of work, I
>>>> received
>>>> approximately twelve dollars for my efforts. It amounted to less than
>>>> minimum wage.
>>>>
>>>> Truck drivers get no respect. Once when I was at a truckstop near
>>>> the
>>>> Canadian border in Maine, a driver told me that his CB handle was
>>>> 'Caucasian
>>>> scumbag'. He said that he chose that handle because of what his father
>>>> (also a truck driver) told him. Truck driving is an honorable
>>>> profession,
>>>> but you will never get any respect. Sadly, I found myself agreeing
>>>> with
>>>> him. A few examples follow.
>>>>
>>>> Once I made a delivery at a warehouse. After 'bumping the dock' (an
>>>> expression used that means you have parked the trailer at the loading
>>>> dock
>>>> so it can be loaded or unloaded), I found a door marked 'driver's
>>>> entrance'.
>>>> When I stepped inside the door, I found myself standing inside of a
>>>> cage
>>>> (subhuman treatment).
>>>>
>>>> I once made a pickup at a major customer. As my hours were almost
>>>> used
>>>> up when I made the pickup, I parked the truck outside the front gate in
>>>> an
>>>> area where truckers were allowed to park and get the required time in
>>>> the
>>>> sleeper before they were allowed to drive again. When I walked back to
>>>> the
>>>> gate requesting to use the restroom, they refused saying that driver's
>>>> weren't allowed to use the restrooms in the facility. I had to go and
>>>> relieve myself in the middle of an open field because there was no
>>>> other
>>>> place provided for the drivers.
>>>>
>>>> People often feel anger towards truck drivers because of the manner
>>>> in
>>>> which they drive on the open highways. I did not engage in such
>>>> driving and
>>>> I did not approve of those who did. But think of what it cost me.
>>>> Slowing
>>>> down reduced the amount of money I made. Remember that many of the
>>>> lesser
>>>> experienced drivers are not all that well paid (contrary to the stories
>>>> about how well truck drivers are paid). When you are paid by the mile
>>>> at
>>>> such a rate as twenty-seven cents a mile and only allowed to drive for
>>>> a
>>>> limited number of hours, making more money requires that you floor it.
>>>> When
>>>> a driver is caught in a traffic jam, he is sitting there burning his
>>>> driving
>>>> hours and getting no compensation for it. He cannot drive extra hours
>>>> to
>>>> make up for it or the Department of Transportation will fine him when
>>>> they
>>>> audit his driving logbook. To that end, some drivers falsify their
>>>> logbook
>>>> to drive more miles. This means that they are driving over the number
>>>> of
>>>> hours it is safe for a person's body to be alert enough to handle an
>>>> eighty-thousand pound multi-vehicle truck and creates an additional
>>>> hazard.
>>>>
>>>> Truck drivers would like to see that changed, but it's difficult.
>>>> 'Over
>>>> the road' drivers are away from home for months at a time. Because of
>>>> that
>>>> they don't get to vote. Politicians look at those statistics and they
>>>> realize that spending time helping truck drivers does not yield them
>>>> additional votes. This does not motivate the politicians to make
>>>> things any
>>>> easier for them. Once, a driver told me that he had tried to get an
>>>> absentee ballot. He was asked where he'd be on election day. He told
>>>> them
>>>> he had no way of knowing because he was sent to different places often
>>>> on
>>>> only a few hours notice. Because he couldn't tell them where he'd be
>>>> on
>>>> election day, they denied him an absentee ballot.
>>>>
>>>> As long as we continue to pay our over the road drivers 'by the
>>>> mile'
>>>> instead of by the hour and pay them for the things truck drivers do for
>>>> no
>>>> compensation every day, the way many truck drivers operate their
>>>> vehicles is
>>>> not going to change. There is significant legislative reform needed
>>>> but no
>>>> political incentive to perform it. And many of these good people
>>>> continue
>>>> to suffer while making a living to support their families (with whom
>>>> they
>>>> are able to spend very little time with). The next time you enjoy your
>>>> breakfast, buy nice new clothes at the store, fill up your tank with
>>>> gasoline, or partake of any number of other countless things, you
>>>> should
>>>> remember that truck drivers brought those materials to you.
>>>>
>>>> Imagine if the trucks stopped rolling for a week. We'd experience
>>>> gas
>>>> shortages, food shortages, and have to learn to do without many things.
>>>>
>>>> When a driver is involved in a traffic accident, it isn't whether or
>>>> not
>>>> he is at fault that matters. You may have run into him but the
>>>> question is
>>>> could he have done something to prevent it from happening? Even if he
>>>> was
>>>> not at fault in the accident, it often is still reported on his driving
>>>> record as 'preventable' (which stacks against him when his driving
>>>> record is
>>>> reviewed for insurance or for possible employment with a different
>>>> trucking
>>>> company). Imagine that, you caused the accident but they hold it
>>>> against
>>>> the truck driver anyway. He is responsible for managing *your* driving
>>>> safety habits.
>>>>
>>>> These dramatically under appreciated people live a lifestyle that I
>>>> don't understand how they continue to live day in and day out year
>>>> after
>>>> year. Essentially they are slaves to our system and we continue to
>>>> take
>>>> advantage of them paying many of them low wages and working them at a
>>>> schedule that would cause most of us to experience complete exhaustion.
>>>>
>>>> My hat is off to them and I think about them from time to time. God
>>>> bless our truck drivers.
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>>
>>>
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